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Johannes Brahms had not done all that well with his early works for orchestra. The piano concerto was gaining adherents, but the two serenades were not. He had taken eight years re-learning his craft via chamber music. Now he needed to take a critical first step toward a symphony.

The German Requiem had been gestating for a few years, and the premiere of a few movements in Vienna had not gone well. Now on Good Friday 1868 at the Bremen Cathedral, Brahms was ready. Clara Schumann was there. So was Daddy Brahms. In a chorus of 200 were members of his Women’s Chorus from Hamburg. Joseph Joachim was concertmaster of the orchestra. Julius Stockhausen, who had taken the conductor’s job in Hamburg that Brahms had so badly wanted, was there to sing the solo specially written for his dark baritone. Networking helps.

(I had problems finding videos by professionals that weren’t fragmented into little bits of individual movements. Thus, I picked a complete performance by Loren Maazel. It’s quite good.)

Brahms lifted his baton, and the first movement began. It’s the music of consolation, written for the living.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. They that sow in tears shall reap joy. He that goes forth and weeps bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him.”

Beginning at 11:02, the second movement is a true funeral piece.

”All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls away.”

He repeats it fortissimo, and it’s earthshaking. Then comes a beautiful contrasting section invoking patience.

”Therefore, be patient, brothers, for the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it until he receives the early and later rain.”

The first section returns in toto and is succeeded by a long, exuberant fugue and coda that changes the mood.

”But the word of the Lord endures forever, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and fighting shall flee away.”

Beginning at 26:05, the third movement is for baritone and chorus. This was written specifically for Julius Stockhausen. It ends with a fugue for chorus.

”Lord, make me know my end and the measure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am. Behold You have made my days as a handbreadth, and my age is as nothing before You. Truly every man as his best state is altogether vanity. Surely every man walks in a vain show. Surely they are disquieted in vain. He heaps up riches and doesn’t know who will gather them. And now, Lord, who do I wait for? My hope is in You. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there no torment shall touch them.”

At 36:05, the fourth movement is pure and simple folk song. This is where the handkerchiefs came out, and the tears flowed.

”How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts. My souls longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are they that dwell in Your house, for they will still be praising You.”

At 41:56, the fifth movement begins, written for both soprano and chorus. It was not played at Bremen, but was composed a year later for the performance of the complete work in Leipzig.

”Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no man can take away from you. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you. Behold with your eyes how I labored but a little and found much rest for myself.”

At 49:30, the sixth movement begins, for both baritone and chorus, and it turns dark, but still simple and plain. There is a mixture of the new and the Baroque with a tip of the hat to Handel. (These verses were set in Act 3 of “Messiah”.) At 52:35, Brahms sets “For the trumpet shall sound,” and he beats Handel! The baritone sings, “Then shall be brought to pass,” and the chorus answers with, “Death is swallowed up.” “O death” and :O grave” are treated as a canon. The end is a grand fugue in C Major.

”For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Then will be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, and You gave created all things, and Your pleasure they are and were created.”

At 1:01:20, the final movement begins with sweetness and utter simplicity, much as the opening began. It ends with gentleness on the word, “Blessed.”

”Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord. The spirit says they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Brahms: “Ein Deutsches Requiem”, Op. 45

Brahms had shown what he had learned from his years in chamber music, because his writing for orchestra was top notch. The crowd that left the cathedral sensed they had witnessed something special. This was Brahms’ first piece to go to Number #1 on the charts. It quickly spread across Germany to Russia, France, England and the US. In England, it was translated from Luther’s Bible and became one of the great, beloved choral works of the English repertory. At the age of 35, Jo Brahms was on top of the world. In the German speaking world, it would be Brahms-versus-Wagner, whether either man wanted that or not. Once you’ve had a hit like this, what do you do next?